Basketball recruit picks Kansas over UNLV, Miami

Luke Barnett, who has emerged as one of the top shooters in the men’s basketball recruiting class of 2026, has verbally committed to playing at Kansas.

Barnett, a 6-foot-3, 170-pound senior combo guard from Mater Dei High School in Santa Ana, Calif., chose KU over Miami and UNLV Friday afternoon on CBS Sports’ college hoops YouTube channe

Barnett attended the Jayhawks’ recent Late Night in the Phog season-kickoff event as part of an official recruiting visit to Lawrence. He is ranked No. 113 in the recruiting class of 2026 by Rivals.com and No. 144 by 247sports.com.

At one time he also was considering TCU, Villanova, DePaul, Arizona State, Washington, Stanford, Purdue, Nevada, Boise State and other schools. Barnett had planned on visiting TCU this weekend, but after meeting with KU head coach Bill Self and his staff, that trip will no longer take place.

“Just going on the visit, talking to their coaches, seeing the culture at Kansas, the basketball history, I just feel like it’s a great spot I can go in to get better and really improve,” Barnett said. “It’s a great culture for me to be in order to get where I want to be eventually.

“They (KU’s coaches) talked about how they’d help me develop, what they see for me improving on what they think I’m already good at, what I can get better at, and also the fit they talked about, how they think I can come and help the team improve. It was definitely both, how they see me helping them, how they can help me.”

He said KU is “getting someone who can come in, space the floor, hit shots, someone who is going to play hard all the time, someone who is tough and wants to win more than anything.”

Eric Bossi of 247sports.com offered this scouting report on Barnett:

“One of the premier jump shooters in the class of 2026 and a highly efficient scorer, Barnett ranked in the 94th percentile (per Synergy) of points per possession while playing with Arizona Unity in Nike’s EYBL,” Bossi wrote. “Barnett is particularly lethal in catch and shoot situations where he averaged 1.23 points per shot while making over 41% of his jumpers from beyond the three point line in those situations.”

Barnett, who set school records by scoring 55 points and sinking 12 3’s last December in a game against Hoover High, impressed observers at the recent Wooten top 150 camp for college prospects in Las Vegas.

“Luke Barnett had a great day shooting from anywhere on the court. He was accurate in all settings, including a step-back nearly going out of bounds over a defender to send a game into overtime,” wrote Trevor Andershock of 247sports.com.

On3.com’s Jamie Shaw wrote of Barnett, who as a junior at Mater Dei averaged 21.0 points, 3.7 rebounds, 1.9 assists, 1.4 steals, and 0.8 blocks per contest: “He found his way with the Arizona Unity (AAU) program this summer by making some big shots. The 6-3 shooting guard knocked down just over 36% of his 6.7 3’s attempted on Nike’s EYBL circuit. He has good footwork and a quiet base, along with a lot of confidence and consistent release, no matter stepping into it or shooting off movement. He shot on volume and was a consistent scorer this summer.”

Shaw added: “He is really top-quality shooter, able to knock things down off movement or the stand still. An off-the-ball guard, the shooting pulls gravity, and it is only a matter of time before he gets going.”

Joe Tipton of On3.com said Barnett, “is an elite shooter. He caught fire today (at a summertime EYBL event), knocking down at least five 3’s. His outside shot is deadly. He doesn’t necessarily have the burst or athleticism but shooting is something that always translates.”

In mid September, SLAM Hoops wrote of Barnett: “Luke Barnett couldn’t miss at Peach Jam. He was making it look too easy.”

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